Why do you Write?

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Why do you write?

Do you just have a burning desire to put pen to paper, or find something therapeutic in the act of typing?  Do you have dreams of writing the Great American Novel?  Do you yearn to see your name on the Best-Seller's List, and long for the day when you can write full-time? Is there a message you want to get out to the World, and you want to use your writing as a Vehicle of Change?  Are your characters an adult version of imaginary friends, and you just like spending time with them?  Maybe you are just an avid reader, and saw writing as the next logical step?

I have been thinking about this sort of thing recently as I realize more and more that my hobbies far outweigh my available time, so I'm curious what you all, the aspiring and accomplished both, have to say on the matter.



For me, its just that I have these ideas that I love to develop.  Worlds, Systems (magic or otherwise), stories, and scenes are always bouncing around in my head, and I desperately want a good way to express them, to share them.  I don't really have any larger ambitions than that.  I'm an engineer at heart (and at work ), so my life's ambitions are in a completely different field.  And when you get down to it, I find most of the available methods of actual writing (typing, pen&paper, etc) somewhat tedious and cumbersome.   The day vocal dictation software is good enough to flow conversationally with anything close to proper punctuation is probably the day Ill stop touching the keyboard.  Hell, Ive even played with an EEG headset in the vague hopes of being able to control my computer more directly for creative works (an abysmal failure I assure you  ).   The truth is, if I could find a ghostwriter willing to work with me to record and polish my ideas into an actual manuscript, without needing thousands of dollars up front, I would be set and happy. 

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Because I can't not write, basically. Given which, I'd certainly like to make some money from it; I wouldn't say I yearn for the day I can write full-time, because the odds of that seem too small for me to get worked up about, but it would certainly be nice not to have to worry about a day job. I don't write because I have a Message (that's what telegrams are for, or were anyway), but I suspect that my fiction probably conveys a fair bit of what I care about as ways to live &c. (Though taking my narrators as reliable indicators of my beliefs would not be a good idea in general; I'm not particularly interested in doing that, because it would be boring.)

[LizW65]

Because its the best way to make the voices in my head go away?
 
In all seriousness, I have a ton of different characters and scenes playing out inside my head at any given time, and my options are:
(a) wait for another, established author to come up with something similar, or
(b) do it myself exactly as I want.

[Aminar]

I write because I like to entertain.  Because it is easily the most lucrative skill I have and I would love to make money off of it if for no other reason than I have family land that my current career path will not allow me to help take care of.  I think most importantly I write to pay back the writers that made me who I am.  I owe so much of my personal strength, charisma, and nature to literature it isn't even funny.  I've done a great many things to give back some of that.  I've worked with kids for a long time because it's a way to give back, but my audience has always been small.  Writing is a way to help more kids get to where I am(although not the most reliable one, as I know few people take as many of the lessons learnable from literature and use them the way I have.

My biggest selfish reason to write is that I can't get enough of the kind of literature I want.  But I can write it, and as a discovery writer that process is much like reading a book, but longer and more fulfilling.

[trboturtle]

I write because I read.....

A good story takes me away -- away from my wories, my frustration, and the other things that I don't want to think about. And I realized that I could do the same thing when I write. I can pour some of the negative emotion into characters and situation, and joy too.

From that, I felt the need to write. First with pen and paper, then a typewriter, then a computer. Fanfiction at first, but I've grown to start creating my own universes my own worlds to explore.

I realize that in some way I'm passing the gift on to someone else -- to take them away from their own worries and stress. ANd if I can do that, I've done my job...

Craig

[Sir Huron Stone]

I write because I get these really great ideas (at least i think so) and I come up with stories and scenes, and i don't want to forget them, so i write them down, and they usually come out great. And then i try to string them together, which doesn't come out so great.

[Naomi]

My initial love of writing began when I started reading.  I wanted to create the magic I experienced while reading a book.  I was (and still am) charmed and amazed at how well selected words can make the written page seem more real than life.

Later, I loved to write because it was a way to escape the difficulties of my life.  It was a way to travel to somewhere else, somewhere pleasant, and to surround myself with people who cared about me -- total escapism.  Also, in life I saw, and experienced, evil deeds being done without the perpetrators being punished.  In my writings, evil doers always got their due, and never got away with what they did.

Now, writing is an urge so deep, so demanding of action, that I consider it primal.  I write for the same reasons, however with life experience, I also write in order to put forth ideas, and ideals.  To stretch my imagination, and invite others to join me on the trip.  And, I write to have fun.

[cenwolfgirl]

it is something to do during my lunch brake to spend max time in libary and avoid serten people
it justifies talking to my self
it lets me use my imagination and be creative
i enjoy it
(i need any other reasons then the last one rely?)
also if i even get good enough yeah it would be cool to do it profetionly one day maybe

[shades of grey]

It keeps my overactive imagination in check.
If I don't write for a while the characters I have hijack my dreams.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

It keeps my overactive imagination in check.
If I don't write for a while the characters I have hijack my dreams.

In my case that's not all they hijack, and while them hijacking movie reviews is copable with, it is less good when they start hijacking the documentation of my code.  (Perl with the style of an 1890s-1910s translation of Alexandre Dumas: not optimal.)

[cenwolfgirl]

day dreams in maths class seem to be kinda intresting
i some times have to write them down

[The Deposed King]

I started reading, then after a few years I wanted to start a used book store.

I started going to Baen.bar to get free snippets of works in progress from established authors.  Then saw it was possible to read entire novels for free from aspiring authors, thought that was neat.  Then said, hey there's so much drek in here anyone could do it.  Put my money where my mouth was, pretty much failed.  Got determined and then almost gave up, sinking back into the enjoyment of being a reader.

Becoming an Author of any kind became a life goal/accomplishment.  Put my head to the grindstone, and smashed out a novel in one month.  Raised my hands in victory and declared.  Then began the epic two week editing process, when I realized there was no way I could make anything saleable by my lonesome.

Now I think I could really make a go of it.  The last thing I want is to push an ideology down anyone's throat.  Although it would be cool to have a book filled with a bunch of characters with conflicting ideologies who were all convinced they were right and never really resolve it, just take some real events from the world, and have each of them spin it into their own victory just like RL.  Then as far as being a bestseller or top notch author like one of the greats.  Sure it'd be great if everyone else recognized my unparallelled greatness but its not something I'm holding my breath for.  Becoming a stable author in a publishing house or writing enough indie books to bring my active income from that up to a certain level would be enough all by itself.  I don't need to make enough to get rich, just enough to have a life.

I don't need to tell stories so the bad guys always loose and good guys always win.  I rather prefer to put the good guy through the wringer.  Not everything I try turns to gold, why should it for the hero?  Same thing with the bad guys, sometimes they win and you're left picking up the pieces.  On the other hand, the good guy needs to enjoyable to follow so victory in the end... a delicate balancing act.  You just have to remember that in the end they always get you at the drive through.

I don't have a compuslive need to write.  I mean I do.  But its not at such a significant volume that its enough to write a book with.

Honestly I prefer reading more than I do writing.

On the other hand I really love sci-fi and fantasy.  I would like to give back a little bit and by that I mean, throw my had in the ring.  If I put my mind to it I can do 'almost' anything.  And by almost I mean I can't edit and that's about it.  If I thought I was doing well enough with sales to make a go of it, depending on my circumstances I might just make a go of it.  Certainly the dream at this point.  It'd be real nice anyway.



The Deposed King

[Madd]

The more technical writing I have to do, the more my desire to write my stories hits me.

I feel so much better when I get to unload the ideas pingponging around inside my head.  Hell, on days when I feel really depressed I either dig out an old favorite (I usually get out some David Eddings), or I sit down to write.

I love doing it.  I envy those with the ability to do it for a living.  To create is a wonderful thing.

[Enchantedwater]

I write because I love it. Words.... I love them. Putting them together in exciting ways to produce ideas and dreams..... Ultimate of Awesome.

[OZ]

I like to write because I have stories to tell. As a child I played elaborate imaginary games and made up complex characters and background stories to fit into my imaginary world. I still have the imagination and still create scenarios, characters, and worlds in my mind but I would like to share them with others and see if they will get as much joy out of them as I have. I read books by some, certainly not all, published writers and say, "I could do better than that." I have loved to read as far back as I can remember. I loved a well crafted story. I love the way a good author can weave seemingly disparate parts together to make a seamless story. I love meeting characters in a book and them seeming as real as people that I know. I love all these things and I want to be a part of creating them.